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Scott Lee likes to begin classes by asking his students if they know what the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is — and isn’t surprised when they don’t know.
Lee, a member of that service, was promoted to captain, equivalent of a Navy captain or Army colonel, Oct. 7 at the Command and General Staff College. Brig. Gen. Sean MacFarland, deputy commandant of CGSC, conducted the ceremony.
MacFarland commended Lee for his work as a student and then instructor in the Department of Joint, Interagency and Multinational Operations at CGSC. The school began integrating interagency students into CGSC staff groups three years ago to give its military students a better idea of how federal agencies work.
“He’s done a great deal for us, providing the interagency perspective,” MacFarland said.
USPHS Capt. Jose Belardo, who lives on Fort Leavenworth, and USPHS Capt. Jim Imholte were also at the ceremony. “What makes us a little different is we’re not DoD uniformed services,” Belardo said, “although some of us do have military backgrounds.”
The Public Health Service is one of seven uniformed services of the United States. Five are under the Department of Defense. Along with the uniformed corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Public Health Service is separate from DoD. Public Health Service is a commissioned corps of officers who answer to the U.S. surgeon general. It is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, dedicated to delivering the nation’s public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science, according to its website, www.usphs.gov. Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is the DHHS secretary.
Imholte said Soldiers might know Public Health Service officers through their work with TRICARE. There are a few Public Health Service nurses who work in mental health clinics in the area, he said.
Imholte said he and Lee worked together in the Public Health Service regional office in Denver, working on disaster relief programs.
Lee began his career in the military as an enlisted Soldier in the 1st Ranger Battalion. He was in Ranger School when the U.S. invaded Grenada. He served for four years in the Army, and got a job with the Environmental Protection Agency after getting out of the Army.
After being commissioned in the USPHS, Lee attended CGSC as a student in the 2009-01 class, then was an instructor for two years. He said by networking with the military at CGSC, he’s learned a lot about camaraderie and professional development.
“That’s the piece that’s missing in the Department of Health and Human Services,” he said.
Lee met his wife, Stacy, while at CGSC as a student. They were married last year on Valentine’s Day inside the Lewis and Clark Center, in front of the stained-glass windows in the atrium — just a few feet away from his promotion ceremony.
“It’s a whole different feeling to get promoted here with these excellent military people that have a long tradition,” he said.
Scott Lee likes to begin classes by asking his students if they know what the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is — and isn’t surprised when they don’t know.
Lee, a member of that service, was promoted to captain, equivalent of a Navy captain or Army colonel, Oct. 7 at the Command and General Staff College. Brig. Gen. Sean MacFarland, deputy commandant of CGSC, conducted the ceremony.
MacFarland commended Lee for his work as a student and then instructor in the Department of Joint, Interagency and Multinational Operations at CGSC. The school began integrating interagency students into CGSC staff groups three years ago to give its military students a better idea of how federal agencies work.
“He’s done a great deal for us, providing the interagency perspective,” MacFarland said.
USPHS Capt. Jose Belardo, who lives on Fort Leavenworth, and USPHS Capt. Jim Imholte were also at the ceremony. “What makes us a little different is we’re not DoD uniformed services,” Belardo said, “although some of us do have military backgrounds.”
The Public Health Service is one of seven uniformed services of the United States. Five are under the Department of Defense. Along with the uniformed corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Public Health Service is separate from DoD. Public Health Service is a commissioned corps of officers who answer to the U.S. surgeon general. It is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, dedicated to delivering the nation’s public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science, according to its website, www.usphs.gov. Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is the DHHS secretary.
Imholte said Soldiers might know Public Health Service officers through their work with TRICARE. There are a few Public Health Service nurses who work in mental health clinics in the area, he said.
Imholte said he and Lee worked together in the Public Health Service regional office in Denver, working on disaster relief programs.
Lee began his career in the military as an enlisted Soldier in the 1st Ranger Battalion. He was in Ranger School when the U.S. invaded Grenada. He served for four years in the Army, and got a job with the Environmental Protection Agency after getting out of the Army.
After being commissioned in the USPHS, Lee attended CGSC as a student in the 2009-01 class, then was an instructor for two years. He said by networking with the military at CGSC, he’s learned a lot about camaraderie and professional development.
“That’s the piece that’s missing in the Department of Health and Human Services,” he said.
Lee met his wife, Stacy, while at CGSC as a student. They were married last year on Valentine’s Day inside the Lewis and Clark Center, in front of the stained-glass windows in the atrium — just a few feet away from his promotion ceremony.
“It’s a whole different feeling to get promoted here with these excellent military people that have a long tradition,” he said.
